Having grown up immersed in the rich food traditions of Italy’s Emilia Romagna region, where he began cooking at age 14, Gino Angelini seemed destined to become a great Italian cook. But it wasn’t necessarily a given that he’d end up in LA as one of the city’s best-known chefs, first at Rex and then at his own restaurant, Vincenti, before opening Angelini Osteria. For almost a decade, Angelini Osteria has been a huge draw, especially for Italian expats hungry for the hearty cooking they miss paired with some fine boutique wines from back home. Don’t let the lean menu fool you. A separate “specials” sheet runs 40-dishes deep and features plenty of seasonal scores: A deluxe pizza Margherita comes with a crust charred by burning oak and olive wood, with gobs of creamy burrata and explosive cherry tomatoes; seemingly simple linguine is enlivened with minced garlic and golden-hued sea urchin roe. To become a regular, just follow the crowd with the Lacoste sweaters draped so effortlessly over their shoulders (but don’t try this unless you really are Italian).

Pizza Margherita
Grilled blood sausage with pine nuts
Linguine with sea urchin roe
Branzino roasted in sea salt with aromatic herbs
Torta della nonna (custard-cream cake with pine nuts) view full menu here

Join the party in the festive dining room or decamp to the back counter, where a trio of stools provides a peek at swirling smoke coming from the wood-burning ovens. In warmer months, diners spill onto to the outdoor patio, which is shielded from Beverly Boulevard by planters.

At 23, Angelini became the youngest chef ever to work at a five-star hotel. He has served several Italian prime ministers and famous figures including Luciano Pavarotti, Federico Fellini, Mikhail Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II.

lunch: Tues.–Fri. 12 noon–2:30 PM
dinner: Tues.–Sun. 5:30 PM–10:30 PM
closed Monday

$24 (chicken alla diavola) to $40 (Romagna-style Dover sole)